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Tuesday, 25 March 2014

OK, so I want to set the record straight regarding the recent Amir Khan and Floyd Mayweather saga. I acknowledge from many fans their shock to Mayweather having the audacity to turn down a fight with Khan and then have him added to his upcoming fight card with Marcos Maidana.

Khan who seemed to have won one of many online polls to have a match lined up with Mayweather had to take the back seat after Mayweather confirmed he was after Maidana instead, this left a very bitter taste in many fight fans mouths, notably UK fight fans. However, these are the same fans that have criticized Mayweather for taking easier fights and taking an easy route to see out his career. I cant understand peoples frustration with Mayweathers choice of fight here, I understand that Khan has beaten Maidana and on paper, should be the rightful man to step in the ring, but at this point in both mens careers, I think we can all agree that Maidana will offer more problems for Mayweather than Khan will.

Amir Khan took to Sky Sports Ringside show to confirm that Mayweather actually rang him directly and explained his reasoning here. Confirming that he has 3 fights left on his showtime contract, Mayweather has promised Khan a fight dependant on the upcoming results of their match ups. Realistically the only thing Mayweather has lost out on here is revenue, opting to take the Maidana fight over Khan will probably lose him a considerable amount of money as the American public love to see the quick, flash and exciting ring presence of Khan.

Adding Khan to the undercard will of course bring up the ratings and money, with Luis Collazo on the opposing corner this will act as a co-headline to Maywethers fight. This fight in itself doesn't have the appeal that I would have liked, Robert Gurrero would have been the better option, but Khan knows he is going to have to shake off some ring rust and this is the right route to do so.

My Final thought leaves me thinking what more can Floyd Mayweather do to please the fighting public, the Pacquiao days are over, people must begin to accept that he must take on other fighters, fighters who have earned their shot. In my eyes Maidana has earned his shot over Khan.

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora has already started his verbal attack on the man he will be stepping in the ring with on July 26th Tyson Fury. Chisora confirming that even though Fury will be fighting infront of his home crowd in Manchester, the local fans wont be getting behind him as they do not like their man.

Unleashing facts on how Fury steps in arenas on 20,000 seats for his fights, but only attracts 2,000 fans, Chisora said that in thier first match, Fury beat him infront of 4,000 people. Things look to be a lot different this time round as both fighters have already attracted widespread attention. Fury confirms he is the home fighter and remains in his element with all the crowd attention on him.

Chisora confirmed he will be in great shape for this fight and has already started training twice a day with trainer Don Charles, confirming he will be leading the pace and picking up the win. Chisora has got himself in great shape and will no doubt refrain from letting himself go any time soon.

Fury on the other hand states Chisora will not change from the last time they met, and he will be fighting the same Chisora as last time round, although Peter Fury did offer some words of praise for Chisora, stating he will be more motivated than ever and has stepped in the ring with great opposition since these two last met, however both fighter and trainer did agree regardless of who the opposition is, a loss is a loss.

Fury confirms he would have liked a warm up fight before taking this after a long time out the ring, but he knows Klitschko wont hang around the Boxing scene forever and he must move quick if he wants to step in the ring with the champion. Predicting a round 5 ko of Chisora, Fury remains his ever so confident self.

Monday, 17 March 2014

Today we got the announcement that we all knew was iminent, as soon as Tyson Fury and Mick Hennessy joined forces with Frank Warren and boxnation, it was a sure thing we would see him step in the ring with Dereck Chisora. July 26th will see both men step in the ring at Manchesters echo arena, with both men already wanting to pick up where they left off the last time they fought.

It was an early win on Furys record, but I think even he will admit Chisora was never at his best. The press conference today gave us another insight to how both men will approach this fight but with a very unusual undertone of respect. It was great to see both trainers offering words of praise for their fellow fighters but also making it very clear the rough ride they have had over the last couple of years to reach this point. With Fury having had 2 fights with David Haye dropped after Haye picking up his injury leaving a year on his career development stumped, and Chisora having a fight with Wladimir snatched away at the last minute.

Thevfact still remains, both men still have very little time for each other, and the positive comments created a great gloss over for their true feelings. Both man has everything to gain here with a garunteed shot at Wladimir Klitchkos WBO title, should the Ukrainian chose to neglet this offer he will be stripped of his title, which I will believe when I see.

On another note, a worthy mention to Frank Warren who is doing a great job of the development of his British fighters, I exclude Nathan Cleverly here. He has managed to put together a Heavyweight fight that should gather considerable interest, especially after the farcical fight between aparent world champion contender Deonty Wilder and no hoper Malik Scott. This fight is still to early to call for me, with Fury being the favorite in most peoples eyes, its hard to forget the caliber of fighters Chisora has stepped in with.

Saturday, 15 March 2014

Tonight saw the return of Tony Bellew since his heartbreaking loss to Adonis Stevenson last year, after much talk of which direction Bellew would head in after losing his light heavyweight title shot, he decided he would carry his speed and power up to Cruiserweight. And why not considering its not one of the strongest divisions around.

Bellew came into the ring tonight knowing that only a win would suffice, and he didnt disappoint. Valery Brudov would be the man who stepping in with a slightly bigger Bellew and he nearly got the upset we all worried about. From the opening bell Bellew looked faster and sharper and in round 2 announced himself to the world as a Cruiserweight who meant business, with a hard straight right he rocked Brudov to the canvas leaving him in a position which most fightersnwould find impossible to return from.

But come back he did, with true grit and determination Brudov stayed in the fight and after being knocked down for a 2nd time managed to catch Bellew with a great right hook that looked to have ended the Liverpool mans night. Luckily Bellew held on and come back in the last 2 rounds to tee up a perfect send off for the crowd, when slipping a right hand that came his way Bellew return with huge interest and caught Brudov clean on the chin with a great shot.

That was as far as the fight went as Brudov awaited his corner for assistance when trying to sit up. It was a welcome return to the ring for Bellew and one us fight fans wont forget for a while. I still feel stamina issues remain with Bellew and when stepping up carrying the extra weight he will really need to work on this, but as far as debuts in a new division go, this couldnt have gone any better.

Monday, 10 March 2014

Today's first press conference saw Carl Froch and George Groves back together in the same room for the first time since last years first clash. You would think that after having time to cool off and reflect on the first fight both men would now allow some room for respect of their counterpart, this however was not the case, infact both men looked even more riled than the first time round.

Both men continuing where they left off, mind games starting when Froch was addressing the media and Groves sat playfully with a rubix cube with a care free look on his face, the image was set that nothing would phase the man from London. Froch however got his own back albeit through a little less subtle approach, as both fighters stood to soak up the press photos, Froch seemed angered by a comment from Groves and pushed him across the pitch side.

Its all great build up and is already guaranteeing fans on seats, there is a lot more to come and this will no doubt become more and more heated over the next few weeks. There is no love lost between these 2 fighters who both feel they have already done enough and proved enough to be the best in Britain and the best on the worlds stage.

Friday, 7 March 2014

May 31st, for most just another weekend, but for any sports fanatic a chance to watch one of the most anticipated Boxing match ups in many years. For hardcore pugilists they will know that actually we had a highly anticipated match up last year when Floyd Mayweather went in the ring with 'Canelo' Alvarez but this wasn't the British domestic clash the UK crowd have craved over the last few months.

Since Carl Froch picked up a some what controversial win over George Groves last year, fight fans have unleashed an onslaught of outcry towards Eddie Hearn and his team to get this rematch setup for the new year. Well we wait no more, as conformation rolled in through February that 'if its a rematch you want', 'its a rematch you have got' and this week we saw the announcement of Wembley stadium being the venue of this encounter.

For many a huge shock, I admit I even had to look twice as I thought the men would return to Wembley Arena, but no, it will be the first ever Boxing event held at Englands home of football. Talk that tickets may not reach maximum sales have started, with Hearn aiming towards 75 - 80,000 plus tickets to be sold. This may seem like a tall order from Froch's promoter, but I think the tickets will be brought up in an instant, especially with the amount of promotional work going into this rematch.

I can't say that buying a £40 ticket to sit way up with the gods offers a huge amount of appeal, especially considering you will be watching only 2 men in a ring, and not 22 men on a pitch. But I have experienced the atmosphere that can be generated inside Wembley, and I must say it has the ability to make this a very special night.

I however will probably be watching, analyzing, craving the fight at home, its just a shame I cant fit 80,000 fans inside my 4 walls. This will truely be a match to remember, I have my predictions and ideas of how this fight will unfold, but for know I will wait and update you all slightly closer to the fight.

Monday, 3 March 2014

This weekend saw Ricky Burns return to the ring after some time away to fix what seemed to be a season ending injury. Burns looked in great shape to defend his WBO lightweight title, the Glasgow crowd were on their feet and the noise from the bagpipes echoed around the arena, the problem was, nobody knew much about his unbeaten opponent Terence Crawford.

For those that did their homework on the American, they will know that Burns may have took a step to far stepping in the ring with the slickster. To be fair I have been following Crawford for some time now and I had the belief that Burns would walk away with his title firmly in his grasp, unfortunately this wasn't the case Saturday night. The opening rounds looked good for Burns, but little did we know Crawford was just getting warmed up.

After 6-7 rounds the fight firmly swung in the favor of Crawford and it wasn't looking as if momentum was going to swing back the other way. Round 10 looked good for Burns but it was too little too late for the Scot as Crawford Simply picked his man off and threw combinations that his American piers would have all been proud of. Its another blow for British Boxing, another title holder loses his belt and another American stands tall in the division.

Burns still has many options to get back in title contention, as the division is open with possibilities, but he may have to take a back seat for a while after his last 3 fights which lets be honest, were not 3 of his best.

However British Boxing is not all doom and gloom, as Anthony Joshua look as dominant as ever, yes I know he is only 5 fights in, and not against the strongest opponents, but he remains a shining star in the eyes of a nation. With people like Sprott, Harrison, Skelton and Sexton all ranked above him, im sure it wont be too long before we start to see a steady climb to the top of the British rankings from AJ.

In other news, Floyd Mayweather is up to his old tricks again, again at the expense of Amir Khan. Just a week after confirming Marcos Maidana as being the next man Floyd will get in the ring with, the 'Money man' has now confirmed that if Khan can pick up a win against Adrien Broner, he will fight him next. Assuming Khan beats Broner.....which he wont......Mayweathers words, not mine.